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Lawrence + Beavan – Design & Marketing Consultants

The two main types of image that we use are vectors and bitmaps. These can be created by many different programmes, and have many different file extensions. They have specific strengths and weaknesses and are used for different purposes. Bitmap files are made up out of tiny squares of colour in a grid – pixels – which generally are not visible as individual cells. Each pixel can be a different colour and the format is therefore ideal for photographs or images with complex colour changes and shading. More pixels means greater detail – so long as the pixels exist in the original image. If you enlarge a bitmap image, more pixels are needed to fill the new, larger size. To do this the computer has add more pixels, and it has to guess at what colour these new fill-in pixels should be. It “interpolates” by adding colours which are related to the adjacent original pixel colours. The result is that the image can look soft or blurry and, as a rule of thumb, it is not generally recommended to enlarge a bitmap image more than 130% for print work. This is assuming that the image is print quality in the first place. You can generally reduce bitmap images without losing quality until they get so small that there is not enough space for the pixels needed to show a sharp image. Examples of file extensions used on bitmap files: .jpg, .gif, .png, .tiff, .eps (though this can also be used for vector files) and .bmp, PICT, PCX, PSD (Photoshop) Advantages of bitmap files: Can handle all the subtleties of colour in photographs, images with complex shading Disadvantages of bitmap files: • Can’t enlarge much without drastically reducing quality • Quality restricted by original creator (camera, settings on paint programme etc) • Jagged edges (pixilating) if over-enlarged Vector files are mathematical instructions of how the end product should be created. These instructions remain the same whatever the final size of the graphic, so vector files can be enlarged with no loss of quality, and no jagged edges to any size. Vector images have to be relatively simpler than bitmap images – and although very complex vector documents can be created, they take enormous amounts of processing power when outputting for print (and are unlikely to print from a regular office printer). Their most common use is for logos which can be scaled up and down with no loss of quality. Logos rarely work well as bitmap files, and a professionally designed logo will almost invariably be in vector format. Examples of programmes which create vector images: Adobe Illustrator, CorelDRAW!, Macromedia Freehand, and Macromedia Flash Examples of file extensions used on vector files: .eps (though .eps can also be a bitmap file – eg Photoshop eps) .wmf and .svg as well as programme-specific extensions .ai (Adobe Illustrator), .cdr (CorelDRAW), and .fla/.swf (Macromedia Flash) Disadvantages of vector files: Can’t get the subtleties of colour and shading needed to show photographic imeages Converting between formats: You can change a vector file to a bitmap (rasterise) but of course you are then restricted for resizing just as with any other bitmap image. Having done this, you can’t revert, so designers generally keep the original vector file if they are converting to a bitmap for the final job. You can import a bitmap image into a vector file as an embedded object but it remains a bitmap – to transform into vector you have to trace over it and remake it as a new vector image. This can be time consuming and sometimes simply not possible! Source.

If you can`t find the vector map of country or city you are looking for, or need some objects to be added, please feel free to contact >>> our friendly team. We draw it in less than 24 hours. All formats: .PDF; .DWG; .AI; .EPS; .CDR; .DXF; .DWG; .PPT

Vector Mappers

SolCity NAV SRL draw maps of countries and cities in a variety of electronic and graphic formats for more than 25 years. Our maps used by the police and rescue services, urban services, many designers, printers, web designers across the globe. In addition, the company develops navigation applications for Android devices, maps for Garmin, LED lighting systems for highways and public areas, legal services, patent services. The company operates in the Dominican Republic, the US, Russia, Latvia and Estonia. We draw a maps since the 17th century.